ainsworths strange situation

• Mary Ainsworth designed a study called ‘the strange situation’ as a procedure to assess how securely attached a child was to its caregiver, and if it is insecurely attached, to assess which type of insecure attachment it has. This was a controlled observation conducted through a two-way mirror. There were seven stages which each lasted 3 minutes.
• Ainsworth was able to identify 3 types of attachments:
• Secure = this was the most popular attachment type (with both types of insecure attachments being equally as common). This was found when the infant showed some separation anxiety when the parent/caregiver leaves the room but can be easily soothed when the parent/caregiver returns. A securely attached infant is also able to play independently but used their parent/caregiver as a safe base to explore a new environment. This usually accounts for 65% of children.
• Insecure resistant = this is when the infant becomes very distressed and tries to follow them when the parent/caregiver leaves, but when they return, the infant repeatedly switches from seeking and rejecting social interaction and intimacy with them. They are also less inclined to explore new environments. This usually accounts for 3% of children, and so is the least common attachment type.
• Insecure avoidant = this is when the infant shows no separation anxiety when their carer leaves the room and shows no stranger anxiety when a stranger enters the room. They may show anger and frustration towards their carer and actively avoid social interaction and intimacy with them. They are able to explore and play independently easily, no matter who is present. This accounts for around 20% of children
• weakness -

  P = It only measured the relationship type with one attachment figure

  E = They only used mothers and their child in the study

  E = This can mean that the wrong attachment type for a child can be identified, as although they may not be so strongly attached to the mother, they may be securely attached with their father or an extended family member. The study wrongly assumes that the child will be closer to the mother than any other adult figure.

  L= Therefore, the study lacks internal validity
• weakness -

  P = There are ethical issues involved.

  E = 20% of children cried desperately at one point.

  E = This highlights how it is ethically inappropriate, as a large proportion of the participants could have experienced psychological harm.

  L = Despite ethical issues not detracting from the quality of the research it is important to conduct a cost-benefit analysis to assess whether the ethical costs are smaller than the benefits of an improved knowledge within this subject field.
• weakness -

  P = The study lacks population validity.

  E = It was primarily based on Western culture almost all of the studies were carried out in America.

  E = It therefore suffers from cultural bias, so we are less able to generalise the findings and criteria to other cultures.

  L = This suggests that the findings are culture bound and also lack ecological validity, because the results can only be generalised to the research settings
• P = The study also lacks ecological validity.

  E = It was conducted in a lab setting, so all the variables were highly controlled.

  E = Despite the strict control over confounding and extraneous variables this is not representative of real life so it lacks mundane realism and cannot be generalised to reality.

  E = However, the high control of variables means it is easily replicable so the findings are highly reliable. This increases confidence in the idea that the findings were statistically significant.

  L = This increases the confidence that can be placed in the attachment classification